VideoGamer.com Rumour mill: X360 Crysis and PS3 Videos

Welcome to the Rumour mill, VideoGamer.com’s run-down of the big rumours currently doing the rounds in the video game industry. Every week we’ll hunt down the juiciest stories and give our opinion on how legit they are. So, whether you want the ridiculous or the plausible, read on.

PS3 Video Store to open in spring

The Rumour: At the recent retailer focussed Destination PlayStation conference, Sony Computer Entertainment America showed off a first glimpse of the PlayStation Video Store. It’s reported that the store will share the same visual styling as the SingStar SingStore. It’s also believed this style will be used to revamp the PlayStation Store as a whole.

Verdict: With Microsoft already offering a video store, Sony once again finds itself lagging behind so a spring launch for its service is certainly a strong possibility. Don’t bank on the service launching simultaneously around the world though, with North America expected to come first.

Plausibility rating: 3/5

Disaster: Day of Crisis to hit Europe in May

The Rumour: The Wii action disaster survival game has been in development since before the Wii hit stores and a source close to the German retail channel has learned the game could be set for a May release across Europe.

Verdict: The rumour comes from Nintendic whose source is said to have been correct with dates for previous Nintendo releases Advance Wars: Dark Conflict and Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn. Nintendo’s titles beyond the April releases of Mario Kart Wii and Wii Fit are pretty much unknown for Europe so May could be accurate.

Plausibility rating: 3/5

In-game XMB set for summer

The Rumour: Speaking to MCV, SCE UK boss Ray Maguire revealed that the PlayStation 3’s momentum will continue thanks to the “introduction of in-game communication in the summer”. This “in-game communication” is thought to be the much rumoured in-game XMB functionality.

Verdict: MCV is a highly trusted trade publication and the words did come directly from the Sony Computer Entertainment UK boss. The only thing that stops this being a confirmed truth is the way Maguire described the new functionality. “In-game communication” isn’t the same as saying “in-game XMB”.

Plausibility rating: 4/5

Crysis shown running on Xbox 360 at GDC

The Rumour: Prior to the show Crytek announced it would be showing press and potential licensees its CryENGINE 2 running on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Primotech has learned that Crytek was showing more than an engine demo. Behind closed doors the developer is said to have been showing off Crysis running on Xbox 360 hardware.

Verdict: It’s well known that Crytek used GDC to demo its CryENGINE 2 on consoles, but this is the first we’ve heard of them actually showing Crysis on a console. Previous information hasn’t denied a console port of Crysis, but has suggested it’s not something that’s currently in development, even suggesting the game would be outsourced to an external developer so that Crytek can progress with other projects.

Plausibility rating: 2/5

Know something we don’t? Let us know about the juicy rumours you’ve heard in the comments section below.